Shadows
by Flexar
Summary: Twenty five years have passed since the war against Bern, but peace will only last so long. Revolution brews in Lycia, and a shadowy figure plagues the nightmares of its princess. Alongside the Silver Wolf's son, an amnesiac mage and a cleric of the Elimine church she sets out to uncover the source of these nightmares.
1. Prologue: Shadows

Prologue – Shadows

Celice's boots padded quietly but forcefully down the mountain path through the mountains, and Daimyo's even quieter. Both were wrapped in cloaks to ward off the cold; Celice seemed perfectly fine, but the Lycian winter was clearly not something Daimyo was accustomed to. Celice would be sure to tease him about it later, but that could wait, there were more important matters at hand.

Thanks to Celice's complete and utter lack of patience, they arrived at their destination reasonably quickly. The ruin's gate loomed over them, which had no impact on Celice, but Daimyo was clearly surprised by the elaborate masonry of the gate's arch, as well as scared that it was going to fall down on them at any moment. Celice signalled for him to stand back as she drew her broadsword in one fluid, clearly practised motion. Daimyo was quick to obey, for Celice was not a woman to complete tasks such as breaking down doors with precision or elegance. One forceful swing had the lock shattered and at her feet, allowing her to slam the door open. She strode purposefully inside, with Daimyo slinking along behind her.

The ruins were even colder than it was outside, but completely dry apart from the slightly damp moss and lichen that adorned almost every surface. Shattered masonry was strewn everywhere, along with the remains of several human corpses. The stench of death grew ever stronger as the duo delved deeper into the ruins, finding their way by torchlight. The flames of their torches ended up catching the occasional cobweb, sending them up in a puff of bright, orange light for a second before dying back down to darkness. The cobwebs bore no spiders, for not even they could survive in a place so desolate.

As they delved deeper, a dim, yellow light could be seen emanating from further into the ruins. It set Celice's heart alight, for she was at last nearing her quarry. She broke into a sprint, forcing Daimyo to follow suit lest he be left behind.

The light came from a small, square room supported by four decaying pillars, each baring a torch. In the centre of the room stood a tall figure draped head-to-toe in a black, hooded cloak. It turned to look at Celice and Daimyo as they entered the room, but shadows cast by the hood obscured its face. Celice's immediate reaction was to draw her sword and charge, but she came skidding to a halt as the cloaked figure sidestepped with ease. However, Celice was not one to give up, so she charged again, but instead of simply hurtling forward she spun to right, tossed her sword to her left hand and swung it at the figure's abdomen. Despite her optimism, the figure simply parried the blow with its own sword, a longer, thinner blade wrought from an ebony-tinted metal. It swung the sword, releasing a shockwave that knocked Celice a metre away from it and onto her back. She almost lost her grip on her sword, but it was fortunate that she didn't, as the figure descended upon her, swinging its sword down at her head. She raised her sword to block, and not a moment too soon. However, the cloaked figure would not be deterred and simply pushed down on Celice, trying to force its way through Celice's sword. She turned her head to Daimyo with a look of desperation, but all she got was: "Celice... Celice... Celice! Come on Celice, get up!"


	2. Chapter 1: The King's Daughter

Chapter 1 – The King's Daughter

Celice rocketed up and planted both her feet into the chest of the person in front of her. It turned out that this person was Daimyo, and he was sent sprawling to the floor. Celice looked around, bewildered, and realised that she was in her room. She was sat in bed, in her nightgown, drenched in cold sweat and breathing heavily. That dream again... She turned her attention to Daimyo, who was nursing his chest as he pulled himself to his feet, backing away from Celice this time instead of going towards her.  
"Bad dream. Sorry." Celice apologised as she slumped back down onto her bed, "I thought you were someone else. Someone trying to stab me. Why are you in my room, anyway?"  
"Please just don't kick me again." Daimyo requested, "Celice, do you have any idea what time it is?"  
"Don't know, don't care." Celice mumbled in reply.  
"It's one in the afternoon!" Daimyo told her, "And what's more, your parents wish to speak with you. _Now_."  
"It's not about politics, is it?" Celice asked, preparing to pull the quilt over her head if Daimyo said yes.  
"I don't know, but they want to speak to you, and that's what matters." Daimyo protested, "Be glad that I volunteered to come and get you, I knew you'd still be asleep. I doubt your parents would be happy to find you in bed at this hour. Casper would certainly disapprove."  
"Casper can go and fuck himself." Celice snapped, the very mention of his name angering her, "I'll get ready, just give me a few minutes." She smiled suggestively at him, "You can even stay and watch me change, if you want."  
"I-I'll wait outside." Daimyo stammered and hurried out of the room.

Well, now that she had him out of the room, she could go back to bed. Unfortunately, it wasn't ten seconds before Daimyo stuck his head round the door again and told her to get out of bed. Oh well, it was worth a try.

Celice was dressed and out of her room within minutes, but still visibly groggy. Despite her status as a princess, she had chosen rather ordinary attire: a loose, navy blue cotton shirt, pale grey trousers and a pair of sturdy leather boots. She made no attempt to tie back her mass of wavy, flame red hair, instead allowing it to fall down to the middle of her back. She was a large, imposing woman, with an all round large physique and standing at five foot eleven; taller than both her parents.

Her friend Daimyo was a much slighter figure. He was a wiry young man who stood at a mere five foot eight, and had a relatively slouched posture. His hair was a fair bit shorter than Celice's, but still long for a man's; its lime green strands dangled down to the bottom of his neck, but his headband prevented them from drooping over his eyes. His attire was a great deal more regal than Celice's; it was woven from the crimson and golden silk that Sacaen royalty often wore.

The two made idle chit-chat as they walked to the chambers of Celice's parents; if Celice's weary slurs could be considered actual speech. Still, Daimyo somehow managed to understand her, despite only having known her for a week, which was more than her own parents could say.

Once the pair had entered the king and queen's chambers, Daimyo bowed to them, and Celice made do with a simple "Morning" and slumped down at the table. It was only once she had sat down that she noticed Casper's presence, causing to roll her eyes almost back into their sockets. Not only did she hate the steward with a passion, his presence meant that the meeting would be about politics. What a great start to the morning. Just as Daimyo began to walk over to the door in order to leave, the king spoke up:  
"No, Daimyo, you may stay. Your parents sent you here so you could learn about Lycian culture, and that includes our politics."  
"Of course, Lord Roy." Daimyo replied, almost embarrassed, and took a seat beside Celice.  
"Well, now that Celice has finally woken up, we can begin." Roy started, "As you all know, there are certain members of the nobility who are unhappy with Lycia having been united into a single kingdom, but some are beginning the threaten Lycia's safety with revolution. In order to prevent conflict, Lilina and I will be touring Lycia to address the concerns of the various marquesses who oppose us."  
"Yeah, because anything short of ceding your rule to them will satisfy them." Celice interjected, "They'll probably take the first chance they get to kill you and declare themselves Lycia's new monarch."  
Daimyo placed a finger over his lips and forcefully shushed Celice, causing her parents to chuckle slightly, as they had long since become used to her behaviour.  
"Your mother and I are well aware that that may be the case." Roy replied, "So, we shall be accompanied by a group of our elite knights lest we must resort to violence. While we are gone, we will be leaving Casper to govern in our-"  
"WHAT?!" Celice snapped, "Why?! Casper can't even manage affairs around the palace! Why aren't you leaving Leontes in charge?"  
"You know full well that your brother is on a diplomatic mission to Bern." Lilina responded, "If he returns before your father and I do, then he can take Casper's stead, but that should not happen unless we are held up for whatever reason."  
"I would ask why I'm not in charge, but I don't want one of your rants about responsibility." Celice sighed, "But for Elimine's sake, why Casper?! Daimyo could govern better, and he's only been here for a week!"  
"The people of Lycia are already uneasy." Casper retorted, "I hardly think having a Sacaen mongrel ruling in their monarchs' stead would make them any easier."  
A look of mild irritation crossed Daimyo's face, but only for a split second. Celice, however, leapt at the opportunity to reprimand Casper.  
"Bite your tongue!" Celice snapped as she shot from her chair, put was pulled back into her seat by Daimyo.  
"Celice, don't waste your time." He stated calmly, "If I cared about this man or what he says I would have reacted. I appreciate your concern, but I'm above responding to his taunts."  
"The boy knows his pl-" Casper began, but was abruptly cut off by his liege.  
"That's enough out of both of you." Roy interrupted, "I sincerely hope you can get on better than this while I'm gone." He paused for a second to draw a breath before continuing, "Lilina and I will leave tomorrow morning. Celice, I would appreciate it if you would wake up in time to see us off. That's all I have to say; this little meeting is over."  
All sitting around the table rose and moved towards the door. Casper flashed a smug grin at Celice, who responded with an icy glare.

* * *

The training courtyard was noisier than usual, despite the fact that there were only two people in it. Unsurprisingly, the one making all the noise was Celice. She was taking the opportunity to vent her anger about Casper's recent promotion by smashing through training dummies with her sword and roaring incoherently. She'd even knocked the head clean off a dummy with a single punch. The other was the captain of the palace guard: a tall, heavily built man in his mid thirties named Alsador. He had unruly, golden blonde hair, steely, brown eyes and sun-tanned skin. He wasn't clad in anywhere near the amount of armour that most guards wore; he made do with a mere pair of steel shoulder pads and thick boots. His approach to guarding was that offense was the best defence; if you hit something with an axe until it stopped moving then it wouldn't attack you.  
"Princess," He began, "I understand that you aren't happy about Casper's new position, I'm barely any more pleased than you, but those training dummies are designed to be attacked with wooden training weapons, not the kind of sword you're wielding. We don't have an infinite amount of money to spend on the dummies you break."  
"I just don't understand, though!" Celice grumbled as she wrenched her sword from the torso of a dummy, "My dad's not stupid; he ought to know putting Casper in charge is a terrible idea! Leontes should be in charge!"  
"That he should, but your father doesn't have the time to waste waiting for the Prince to return from Bern." Alsador pointed out, "After all, imagine what would happen if he'd sent Casper."  
Celice snickered a little and relaxed slightly.  
"Yeah, you're right," She sighed, "But Casper's still running the show until my dad's back. Guess I'll just have to find something to do that will keep me out of Casper's way."  
Alsador chuckled to himself slightly, causing Celice to give him a funny look.  
"I'm sorry, your Highness, but it's just that you seem to have calmed down considerably since that Sacaen boy showed up." Alsador apologised.  
"Daimyo?" Celice asked, "The small, timid one?"  
"Yeah, him." Alsador confirmed, "Apparently they think he's going to be the next Silver Wolf."  
"Daimyo?!" Celice scoffed, "The next Silver Wolf?! I know his dad's the current Silver Wolf and his mum's the last Silver Wolf's daughter, but Daimyo? He couldn't beat one of our regulars!"  
"I wouldn't be so sure." Alsador retorted, "That lad's got to be more than he seems. Your father certainly thinks he's going to make a fine Silver Wolf. His Highness was the leading general in the war against Bern, he's got to be a pretty good judge of character."  
"When did he say that?" Celice asked.  
"About a day after the boy turned up." Alsador answered, "Where is he, anyway? I've only seen him without you once so far."  
"He's talking to my dad." Celice replied, "No idea what about, but probably about something incredibly boring, like politics. That's why I'm out here."  
"The world could do with more nobles like you." Alsador chuckled, "It's nice to see that Lycia's very princess knows how to wield a sword better than most soldiers." Celice began to raise her sword again, "Princess, that was not an invitation to break more dummies." She lowered her sword, slightly annoyed.


End file.
